Fullmetal Kingdom ~ Chapter 141

Chapter 141: A Bond Reformed

"FORGET THE GIRL…FORGET YOUR PAST…FORGET YOUR HUMANITY!"

The Witch's Coil screeches through the area, strengthening the Dark Kairi clones, who throw themselves at the Gunslinger Girl and the Keyblade Master!

(BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-)

Kairi blows away the dark copies on her side while Sora cuts through the other! Kairi asks, "Sora, what is that thing above us?" Sora answers, "A Golem, I think it's the reason my memories keep getting rewritten!" Kairi asked, "So you think that Crimson guy is the reason for it?" Sora shook his head, "…not Crimson, this was done to me a long time ago, before Crimson even escaped from his prison in Lior. It scares me to say it, but I think the culprit is-."

Suddenly, Sora saw Namine's face on the Witch's Coil!

"…N-…Namine?"

Kairi remembered the name and said, "So…SHE'S RESPONSIBLE!" Kairi aimed her guns at Namine's eyes, but Sora grabbed Kairi and said, "NO KAIRI, DON'T!" Kairi then said, "She's replaced me with her own image Sora, if I'm going to get you back, then she has to go!" Sora then said, "No she doesn't! I spoke to her a few days ago Kairi, she's suffering, someone's controlling her, just like Wrath controlled you!" Kairi looked at Sora and said, "We were BOTH controlled Sora, me, by Wrath, and you, by this bitch! For all we know, you could be doing what she says even now!"

"Sora…I did this…"

Namine's tears came out as she spoke, "I removed her from your heart and memories…because I was afraid…afraid of being alone forever." Sora looked at the girl's face as she wept. He wanted her pain to end, so he asked, "Namine…you were telling the truth, weren't you? We never met as kids, and all this time…you were controlling-?" Namine explained, "No, I couldn't control you…I could only-GRAAAAAAAAAGH-!" Sora called out to her, "NAMINE?!" But instead of a reply, the girl cackled, and her face changed back into the ugly witch's face!

"FORGET THE GIRL…FORGET YOUR PAST…FORGET YOUR HUMANITY!"

Meanwhile, Axel watched in confusion as Namine was engulfed in darkness! She continued drawing, but her drawings were more like ferocious strokes of the pencil, making crooked lines and almost tearing the paper. Axel tried to pull her away, but as he pulled her shoulder, Shadow Golems latched onto him and attempted to devour him!

"GET…OFF…ME…YOU SMALL-WORLD REJECTS!"

(VA-VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

Axel instantly incinerated the Golems and tried to reach Namine, but as he approached her, more Golems appeared! Axel then wondered, "This isn't natural, just what is going through this kid's brain?!"

"Just the regular teen misery you find in your local child."

Suddenly, a certain masked lord of darkness named Crimson appeared before Namine! He gently placed his hands onto Namine's shoulders and said, "It's time to fly, my captive parakeet."

(CHOMP)

"NAMINE!"

Namine was instantly eaten alongside Crimson by an enormous shadow-like maw, and instantly, disappeared from the room! A stunned Axel then wondered, "That…what kind of alchemist-…could do that?!"

Inside a dark tunnel, an unconscious Namine was resting in Crimson's arms. As the Golem King held her, he said, "In a way, you're getting what you wanted, a free Sora. As soon as he destroys the cursed worm, he will no longer be the puppet you created; he will be MY kind of puppet. But more so than even that, he'll be the leash pulling the Fullmetal back to me…"

Back inside Kairi's Heart, the Witch's Coil reached for the duo with her bony, yet destructive hands in an attempt to squish them like insects!

(KA-THOOM, KA-THOOM, KA-THOOM, KA-THOOM-)

Sora and Kairi avoided every hand that rained upon them while slicing and blasting through the army of Dark Kairis!

"ATTACK THE HANDS!" Sora said. He and Kairi then started to unleash their strongest sword skills and bullets upon the Golem's wrists, making it shriek in agony! The hands retracted, but Kairi wasn't finished yet, she held onto one of them and climbed up the arm to try and damage the Witch's Coil another way. Sora asked, "Kairi, what are you doing?!" Kairi replied, "I'm destroying this obese hag, that's what!" Sora knew Namine was related to the creature, so he tried to say something to stop Kairi, but the red head smiled at him and said, "Namine's alright, trust me. I'm pretty sure she was just speaking through this creature, but if I DO find her, I'll let you know so you can act like some lame hero and catch her."

(SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH)

A dark copy of Kairi suddenly pounced onto Sora, trying to eat him, but Kairi quickly shot the enemy down, she then said, "DEFEND YOURSELF, I CAN'T WATCH YOUR ASS FOR YOU!"

Sora nodded and prepared to attack the Dark Kairis before him!

The Witch's Coil snarled at Kairi and attempted to crush her! The Golem reached for Kairi as she climbed on the arm, but the Gunslinger swung to the creature's hand and ran up the arm towards the shoulder! Kairi then jumped over to the hairs on the Golem's side and began climbing. As she climbed closer to a strand of hair, she said, "GROSS-GROSS-GROSS-GROSS-GROSS-!" Kairi then grabbed the nearest strand of hair and swung over to the Witch's Coil's face, where she landed on the eye socket, pointed her guns at the pupil, and called out, "Sora, while I'm attacking this side, you head up to the other and do the same!"

(BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-)

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!"

As the Golem squealed in pain, she stumbled upon the Station of Awakening, giving Sora the opportunity to climb up her arm and join Kairi's assault…

"FORGET EVERYTHING!"

Just then, the Witch's Coil surprised Sora by quickly grabbing him! She then swatted Kairi away, but the girl was quick to grab onto some of the Golem witch's hair and swing down to the Station of Awakening! As she landed, the Coil spoke to Sora, "I'll keep you asleep until you're nothing but a husk! No memories, no will to call your own, your eyes will close forever, like you fell prey to a SLEEPING DEATH."

(CRA-KA-THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

Behind the Golem witch, a vortex opened, then the Witch's Coil said, "The girl's heart is a bit cramped for the two of us, let's go home boy, where I'll be starting you up ALL OVER AGAIN, and again, and again, AND AGAIN, HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"He found his way back to me…and you want to just empty his mind?! I WON'T LET YOU KEEP HIM, YOU OLD BITCH!"

Kairi then rushed to the edge of the platform, and jumped with all her strength to reach the Witch's Coil!

"Sorry 'girly', but there's only room for ONE girl in his heart!" The Witch's Coil laughed. But Kairi succeeded in grabbing onto one of the lumps on the worm-like Golem! The witch then unleashed a breath of misty decay, bringing down to Kairi a cloud of sickness and poison! The Gunslinger however held her breath and climbed upwards!

"YOU CAN'T WIN, BRAT, HIS MIND WILL FORGET YOU, THEN HIS PAST, AND FINALLY, HIS HUMANITY!"

"FORGET THAT!" Kairi said as she shot a bullet through the Witch's tooth, making the worm-hag shriek in pain and annoyance! Kairi then loaded a Summon Bullet…

"Release him…BELIAS!"

(BLAM)

Kairi's summon bullet then transformed into a large, muscular ram-like creature with red hair, 4 arms, two faces covered in iron masks, and a HUGE heart-shaped axe!

The Witch's Coil tried to hasten her retreat inside the vortex, but to her shock, the red creature's upper arms were pulling her away! The Witch's Coil tried to force her 'dance partner' to release her by clawing at him with her many hands, but the creature merely flew past the hands and latched onto the hand that held Sora in it's grasp!

Sora stared at the creature and asked, "Kairi…is he one of yours?!" Kairi replied, "Yup, one of my summon bullets, this time, he's a flame elemental! Call him, Belias the Risen Demon!"

(CHOP)

"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Belias loped off the arm, making the Golem release Sora from her grip! As Sora fell, Belias caught him and brought him down to Kairi, who said, "That thing won't leave us alone until it has you back in it's grasp! We need to finish-!" Sora stopped her by saying, "It's OK Kairi, I just got you back, so for now, leave it to me."

The Witch's Coil grabbed onto the Station of Awakening and tried to grab Sora again, luckily, Belias was there to provide him with protection! Sora immediately sliced through every hand that reached for him, thus weakening the Coil!

"I'M THROUGH WITH YOU MEDDLING LITTLE FOOLS!"

The Witch's Coil released some more decaying breath, hoping to weaken the group's offensive, but suddenly, before she knew what was coming, Belias rushed towards her and jumped into her mouth!

The Golem witch was confused by the sacrifice, but she had what she wanted, Sora and Kairi, unable to defend themselves, weakened by the poisonous fog, and down on their knees…

The Witch's Coil sneered, "Heh, I knew I'd get'cha! Now there won't be any more 'fighting back' from you teeny-tiny dwarves!" Sora then said, "You should meet Ed someday you wrinkled prune, he'd know the perfect way to kick your boney, buggy butt!" The Witch's Coil ignored him and looked at Kairi, "Since you're getting on my nerves 'little princess', I'LL TAKE A BITE OUT OF YOU AND CRUSH YOUR BONES!"

Kairi was at the mercy of the Witch's Coil, but unknown to the witch, Kairi was smiling, as if something was going according to plan…

(KRA-KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)

"Belias has a knack for fire you sludge-bride, and what he just unleashed was his signature move, PAIN FLARE!" Kairi bragged.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The Witch's Coil began to deteriorate into smoke while her heart was released. As the coil fell into the bottomless darkness, Sora went to Kairi and said, "You planned this from the beginning, didn't you?" Kairi answered, "Not really, Belias was the one doing the planning. He's a 'temporary soldier' type of guy who runs on a timed plan. When he's summoned, he will only act on what's necessary, like saving your life and getting inside the hag's throat. When his time runs out, he unleashes his most powerful attack, the Painflare, which acts as a self-destruct sequence, but unleashes a payload of Hellfire."

Kairi turned around and said to Sora, "…so…Namine wasn't in there, was she?" Sora answered, "It's like you said Kairi, 'Belias would do what's necessary', so if he had to save me AND Namine, he would've done so by now. So I guess…for now, we need to keep searching for her." Kairi then said, "…we should go to Dublith." Sora asked, "Why Dublith?" Kairi answered, "Remember how you were searching for the other Y. O. U. T. H. Orphans? I heard that a few were spotted there, wearing strange silver headbands."

"…The Slave Crown." Sora said.

Sora looked up in the air and asked, "…when we wake up…would you really want to come with us?" Kairi nodded, "Sora, I became a Homunculus to keep myself alive, to see you again, no matter what came at me. And just now, we've destroyed the thing controlling your memories, now you're free to recall, recite, and remember whatever you want. I finally have you back again…so I don't need Wrath anymore."

Just then, a horde of Dark Kairis left from the bottom of the dark pit and charged at Sora and Kairi! The two were surrounded, but Kairi grabbed Sora, looked him in the eyes and said, "SORA, STAB MY HEART WITH YOUR KEYBLADE!" Sora wondered what she meant, so she explained, "Wrath is afraid of the Keyblade, they all are! It's power can purify the corrupted and make them whole again, just like a world invaded by the Golems!" Sora asked, "Hold on, how do you know it'll work?!" Kairi answered, "I DON'T, BUT YOU HAVE TO TRY, HURRY!"

Sora looked at his Avenger…

Thought for a bit…

Suddenly, the Dark Kairis grabbed Kairi and jumped over the edge of the Station! Sora had no time to think, he ran, he jumped down, he reached Kairi with all his might-!

…

…

…

(CLINK)

The entire area suddenly lit up in a blinding light!

Kairi opened her eyes and saw Sora grab her. As he did, they flew up into the air, where they would find their way back to reality…

End of Chapter 141